But now in the final season of an often-brilliant, four-year Eagles career, Fuentes is starting to grab a headline or two of his own. And after finishing third at this past weekend’s prestigious Ironman Tournament in Ohio, Fuentes is ranked 12th in the nation at 113 pounds and turning many of the heads that were not previously twisted in his direction.

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Fuentes did little to jeopardize that lofty ranking Wednesday night, contributing a 68-second fall to the Eagles’ easy 66-18 win over Cheltenham.

And while he’s not about to call those doing the rankings and insist they’ve made a mistake, he also understands that fame, and rankings, can be fleeting.

“I don’t go out of my way to look at the rankings,” Fuentes said. “I’m ranked now, which is pretty cool, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t keep working hard and live up to those rankings.

“All of the matches (at the Ironman tournament) were close, I saw a lot of nationally ranked kids. And I like matches like that at the beginning of the year. They give you a better idea what you have to work on.”

Because Norristown was entered in the Ironman, and has tournaments like the Beast of the East and Escape the Rock on the early-season docket, Fuentes and his teammates jumped into the serious practice grind even sooner than usual.

“Those types of tournaments get you going early,” the senior lightweight said. “They put you in that (wrestling) mindset earlier. Now I just have to keep up that intensity throughout the year.”

It has begun, Fuentes said, with he, Harner and Mike Springer leading the way.

“We’re working as hard as we can every day,” Fuentes said. “I’m trying to step up my wrestling in my senior year, and I got a good start in practice and at the (Ironman) tournament.”

Fuentes said that at this stage of his career he’s not interested in changing styles or adding trendy moves.

“Right now I’m just working at doing what I do and doing it better,” he said. “There are a few key things I need to improve, like scoring early in matches (Fuentes went without a first-period takedown at the Ironman), and Coach (Mark Harner) says I have wrestle a whole lot meaner.

“I definitely have flaws, and they’re things I have to work on to get to the next level. I have the ability to win a state championship, I just have to put it in my head, keep up my intensity and correct those flaws.”

Like last season, Norristown’s success as a team is predicated on its top guns collecting big points and its less experienced wrestlers holding their own and keeping matches close.

“It’s not really about one or two people,” Fuentes said. “We had a lot of kids graduate who were a big part of this team, and we need our young guys to step up and wrestle tough for us to be successful.”

As for his future beyond Norristown, Fuentes said he’s in the process of whittling down his college choices to a select few, then going from there. His exposure, and his showing over the weekend, is certain to garner even more attention from prospective college coaches. It didn’t hurt that Coach Harner was trumpeting Fuentes’ abilities to anyone who would listen.

“The list of the people Zach has wrestled and beaten is pretty long,” Harner said. “He’s beaten state champions and state runners-up, a lot of big-time kids. I tried to point that out to the people who were there (in Ohio).”

“There were a lot of coaches there,” Fuentes said, “and I guess I caught some of their eyes, which is always good.”

Norristown certainly hasn’t lacked for name wrestlers in recent years, and now there is another who’s broken through to a national “audience.”

“It’s nice,” Fuentes said, “but like I said, it doesn’t mean much if you don’t keep winning your matches.”

BACK POINTS: The Eagles racked up 10 falls in the win, with seven coming in the first period. ... The match marked the final appearance of “The Ocean,” the oversized wrestling mat Norristown has used for dual meets since the days when Steve Harner coached the team. A brand-new mat is scheduled to arrive at Norristown on Thursday.